shop update

Pattern Roll Call: Perfect for Laceweight

By Stephanie

Did you hear that almighty THUD the other week?  That was me, hitting the floor when I discovered that… wait for it…  the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee,  was knitting with SpaceCadet laceweight yarn.  Not just knitting with it, she found herself actually being called by the colour, and I honestly don’t think a dyer could hope for any higher praise than that!

The second thud — you heard that one too, right?  That was me when all my laceweight sold out in what seemed like only minutes.  It was crazy to see the awesome power of the Yarn Harlot”s influence!  But also so cool because I love these laceweights and it was exciting to see them take center stage at last.

SpaceCadet Creations Laceweight yarn for knitting or crochet, in Honey (this is what the Yarn Harlot is knitting!)

Stephanie chose to knit Omelet, a beautiful and intricate lace shawl.  It was a great choice for the yarn — and it’s exactly what most people think of first when they pick up of skein of laceweight yarn.  But I also know that a lot of people end up putting that skein right back down again, because lace like that can be really intimidating.

So I wanted to show you a beautiful alternative: this is Mythos by Laura Nelkin and, knit in a laceweight yarn, it is the most perfect light summer cardigan to slip on whenever the evening brings the slightest chill. Laura Nelkin's Mythos cardigan

Mythos is one of the samples we take to our trunk shows and it’s amazing how almost everyone falls in love with it on the spot.  It can be knit in either a fingering yarn or, as shown here, a laceweight yarn held double.  And with simple stitchwork and straightforward shaping, it’s a really appealing way to use those gorgeous laceweights that sometimes seem so inaccessible.  What could be better for laid-back, lazy summer knitting?

Laura Nelkin's Mythos, knit with laceweight yarn

Shop Update!

I’ve been busy dyeing to get those laceweights back in the shop! So, here’s the first batch — some of the 100% Merino that the Yarn Harlot has been knitting, and some of the gorgeous Silk and Merino Luna Laceweight — all in those rich, gently undulating colourways that are perfect for these delicate yarns.  Click here to see them!

Shop Update! Click Here to see the Shop Update of new SpaceCadet Creations yarns for knitting and crochet

I’m Knackered, You Get a Shop Update!

By Stephanie

I had a fabulous blog post planned for you, full of great colourway combinations for maximum impact in some of this season’s hottest knitting patterns…  but, oh!, I’m just too knackered.  I don’t know what it is, but all week, I’ve felt like I could just fall asleep where I stand.  I’ve gotten a lot of dyeing done — there is always wonderful, colourful dyeing to be done — but everything else has just fallen away.

I find I always need a few days to recover after doing shows — they’re so exciting and there are so many people to talk to, that they actually use up a lot more energy than I expect.   Two weeks ago, I traveled to MDSW, which is such a fibery adventure, but simultaneously both energising and energy-draining.  And then immediately turned around and did the SpaceCadet’s Grand Tour of Cleveland, back-to-back trunk shows.

SpaceCadet Creations yarn trunk show at River Color Studios, Cleveland

And they blew me away.  They were so much fun!  Can I tell you, if you’re in Cleveland, go to River Color Studios in Lakewood or Soft n Sassy in Broadview Heights.  Both of them are gorgeous, mouth-watering yarn shops.  And both of them run by really lovely, warm people who made me feel right at home (Erika and her team at River Color: Rachael, Gretchen, Laura, Gail; Cheryl and her team at Soft n Sassy: Linda and Evelyn).

And at both of them, I met some of the nicest people I’ve ever got the chance to meet.  They said lovely things about my yarn, which always makes me feel amazing.   It was great weekend.

And it wasn’t just the trunk shows that made the weekend memorable.  There was also lunch at a bakery decorated with… wait for it… flowers made from coffee filters.  How cool is that?!?

Huge flowers made from coffee filters!

 

There was the oldest microwave I’ve ever seen.  For a long time, I thought it was a television in the corner of the office, before I realised what it was.  Look at the size of it!  Look at the dials!   And… it still works just fine.  Crickey!

The biggest, oldest microwave I've ever seen!

 

Oh, yeah, and there was a Yarn Harlot too.  People, there was the Yarn Harlot!  She was absolutely lovely, and very very funny.  And she bought a skein of SpaceCadet yarn!  That blew me away totally.

It's the Yarn Harlot herself!

 

Ohhh… and there was yarn.  Lots of lovely, lovely yarn…

SpaceCadet Creations yarn Trunk Show

 

And after all that, I’m completely knackered.  Cream-crackered.  And so you don’t get the blog post I was planning.  But I’m not going to leave you high and dry…  you do get two things that are well worth having.  One is some lovely Friday eye-candy in those photos up above.

And the other?  I just mustered the energy to do you a wee shop update.  Go on, take a look!

Shop Update! Click Here to see the Shop Update of new SpaceCadet Creations yarns for knitting and crochet

SpaceCadet Colourway Collections …and a Shop Update!

By Stephanie

You know that moment when you suddenly realise something that should have been blindingly obvious to you?  You roll your eyes, maybe slap your own forehead, right?  Yeah, I had one of those moments the other day.

A few weeks ago, I updated my wholesale information for local yarn shops that carry SpaceCadet yarn, and when I did the colourway images, I naturally grouped them by collection.  Collection?, you say.  Yeah, I know I do a lot of crazy, experimental dyeing — and that’s what a lot of you love about SpaceCadet yarn — but I also develop and dye set collections of colourways.   They’re colourways that go together, that mix-and-match, that will work beautifully in the same project.

I love these collections.  Love developing them, love how one colour leads me to the next, love looking at them all together when they’re done.  And my head-slapping moment came when I realised…  I’d never shown them to you!

Here, let’s fix that.  Now, the first one you’ve seen before — it’s the Quilt Collection and I wrote a post showing you the picture that inspired it, but I didn’t really show you the whole collection together…

SpaceCadet Creations Quilt Collection yarns for knitting and crochet

The thing I love about this collection is that the semi-solid blue, greens, pink, and red work together on their own, but when you add the varigated yarn, Quilt on a Green Bed, suddenly, they are all perfectly coordinated.  I see a cardigan knit in one of the semi-solid colours, with the details such as collar or cuffs knit in the variegated yarn.  You may see it done the other way around.  Either way, I love how they all come together.

Ok, so here’s another collection, one I don’t think I’ve shown you as a group before…

SpaceCadet Creations Submerge Collection yarns for knitting and crochet

This one I love — it’s so rich, so dark and yet colourful, playful.  And that Honey — oh, how it pops!  And again, all the semi-solids pull together with Submerge, the variegated yarn, for a completely coordinated look.  Can you see a project in there?  Is it one colour and gentle, or is it popping with wild colour?

And just quickly, another soft and springlike collection…

SpaceCadet Creations Washed Collection of yarns for knitting and crochet

That middle colourway there, it’s one of my favourites ever ever ever.  And from it, I pulled out Gentle, the pink on the right.  They’re gorgeous together.

The last group of yarns isn’t a collection, so I shouldn’t really include it here, but it’s in the wholesale information and I love these colourways so much, I can’t help but show you!  They’re colours that make you just want to dive headfirst into the computer screen, aren’t they?

Deep and Intense SpaceCadet yarns for knitting and crochet

My goal in creating these collections is to make it so that you can look at the yarns and just see your project — see the colours working together in the patterns you’ve been thinking about starting.  I wanted to make it easier to jump into variegated yarns by creating other colours that work with them, so that you can choose whether those variegated yarns are going to dominate your project or just act as a highlight.

And then a few days ago, I suddenly realised I’d never shown them to you!  I’ve only ever put them in the shop — individually, even — and not really done anything to tie them together for you.  Headslap!

So now that you’ve seen them as they’re meant to be seen, what do you think?  Can you see your project?  Tell me — because I’d love to know — would it be made of the wildly variegateds, or are you partial to the semi-solids?

 

Shop Update!

Speaking of going in the shop, I’ve just done a shop update. Great yarns with lovely cashmere, in some of the colourways straight from these collections.  Oh, and one eye-popping colourway that I may never be able to repeat again!

Come check ’em out!

Click Here to see the Shop Update of new SpaceCadet Creations yarns for knitting and crochet

 

Shop Update: The Colours that Won’t Behave!

By Stephanie

So, I’m standing there in the studio, mixing colours in the dyepots, when my husband appears  in the doorway.  It’s a rare treat when he stops into the studio and I’m always pleased to see him.  We start chatting, while I apply this colour and then that to the yarn…

And when I look down, I realise the yarn looks completely different from what I’d been trying to dye.  Completely!  Different!  And…  I don’t know what I did to achieve it.  Chatting and dyeing — they do not mix.  And what’s more, I love this new colourway.  Whatever it is, however I did it, I looooove it.

But I should be able to figure this out, right?  I mean, I know the colours I mixed, I just applied them in some strange order.  It shouldn’t be too hard to reverse-engineer.  Right?  Right?

People, I’ve been trying.  Trying and trying!  And while I haven’t quite hit it yet (damn! what did I do?!?), I’ve produced some really beautiful yarns in the process.  And they went into the shop today!

SpaceCadet Creations merino and nylon fingering yarn for knitting and crochet

 

And those aren’t the only colours I’ve fallen in love with lately.  Check out these purples…

SpaceCadet Creations merino yarn for knitting and crochet
And I did some warm browns and jewel tones…  Oh!  Aren’t these lovely?!?

SpaceCadet Creations merino and nylon fingering yarn for knitting and crochet
And then… and then…  I decided to play with the negative space a bit, and try lay down the softest, lightest, most barely-there layer of colour I could.  What do you think?

SpaceCadet Creations yarn for knitting and crochet

If you like them as much as I do, get over to the shop and nab them before they go!

 

And if some of these colourways look a bit too wild for you and you’re not quite sure how you’d use them, then keep you eyes open for my new ebook, Launching Into Hand-Dyed. It’s a 42-page guide designed to walk you through choosing and using even the most highly variegated colourways. I’ll be launching it in the next week, so do look for it!